As a senior in college at Washington State University, I applied and interviewed for many organizations. I wanted to go into law enforcement and applied for many careers. One job that I applied for as a fluke was that of a Border Patrol Agent. Fate led me down a strange path and a year later I accepted the job as a Border Patrol Agent. I planned to use this as a stepping stone to a more suitable career but again fate stepped in and I enjoyed the job more than I would never have imagined.
The job of a Border Patrol Agent is much more complicated than just being a border guard as we are often referred to. Although the majority of the duties do involve crimes pertaining immediately to border crossing, many aspects of the job present much more challenging and complicated aspects of law enforcement.
The Border Patrol Academy
The Border Patrol Academy is both a physically and intellectually rigorous academy. Trainees are taught the very complex Immigration Law along with Spanish and general law principles. When I attended, I was 150 pounds of a not-so-strapping young man! The physical rigors of the academy presented the greatest challenge to me and I persevered and even excelled. Towards the end of the 18 week long academy I was jogging more than 5 miles a day and had bulked up a bit. Anyone can pass the academy but it takes effort and perseverance!
Southwest Border Stations
Almost all newly hired BP Agents are assigned to the southern border. Border Patrol Agents generally enforce U.S. laws relating to Immigration along with occasional drug related offenses. Every aspect of being a BP Agent is available on the southern border including line-watch, sign-cutting, anti-smuggling, narcotic interdiction, prosecutions and intelligence.
I was assigned to the South Texas station of Uvalde. My first impression of this part of Texas was pretty negative as I passed through the town on the Amtrak and the whole area seemed pretty desolate. It turned out that first impressions were incorrect and I enjoyed my dozen years there.
I was lucky enough to work many of the aspects of Border Patrol work. I worked years of anti-smuggling and apprehended numerous smuggling cases; was involved in several high speed chases which are good for reminiscing and learned a great deal about the organization.
The Border Patrol has stations all over the United States mainly along the Border States and Coastal States allowing an agent to transfer to a variety of locales, coupled with the sister agencies of ICE and CBP allow for transfers to almost any place in the United States along with various overseas locations.
I continued my career, transferring to an interior station in Washington State and worked interior enforcement which is closer to investigations and involved many investigations over the years. I then transferred to management on a Canadian Border station from which I retired.